Dear Next President,

     I hope you can make educated, reasonable decisions regarding gun control while you are in office. I believe there are a wide selection of common-sense decisions and non-controversial changes we can make that can and will save lives. These changes won’t hurt anyone, and can only have a good change on our world.

     If you are serious about saving lives and making the right decisions you should use statistics and reason as your #1 aid. For example, on a positive note, the homicide rate currently is the lowest it has been in 25 years which is an amazing thing most people don’t realize (Simon/Sanchez). The other side of this coin that you need to take into account is the ways that statistics can be misleading. While there were more than 400,000 deaths in the US by gun from 2001 to 2013, 3 out of every 5 of those deaths were suicide (Simon/Sanchez. This means that this particular statistic, while accurate, has a different connotation than what is denoted by it. The reality is, these people would have found a way to do this to themselves anyways, this was just the most convenient option they had. Guns have many good uses, and shouldn’t have misunderstood statistics held against them when so many of the facts support them.

     A huge part of today’s world and a majority of the public opinion is affected by the media. As President you have to take into account the amount that the media sways real news to fit their current agenda. If you look at recent news coverage of mass murders, Sandy Hook and Orlando, the media makes it seem as though thousands of people are killed each year in the US by “Assault Weapons.” “Assault weapons” being defined as usually long guns, typically with semi-automatic or automatic firing capabilities. However, in this article by CNN, it was shown in a graph that only 285 people a year are killed with rifles, while over 5780 people are killed each year with handguns. This is a fantastic example of the media swaying the opinions of the general population. The media has an enormous impact on voters and new legislation and you should take this into careful consideration when leading our nation in these next few years.

     The pros of carrying a gun vastly outweigh the cons of having guns in our society. For example, from this page on justfacts.com, in 2014 there were around 5.9 million violent crimes committed but only 10% of these were committed by people visibly brandishing guns. This fact shows that people will commit violent crimes with whatever they can, and anything is a weapon. Something that could have helped the victims of these crimes however, was the possibility of defense. If the victim were carrying a gun to defend themselves, or the would-be assailant even had the slightest thought that they might have a gun, many of these crimes could have been prevented. Guns have many more advantages than disadvantages to our society.

     There are some easy steps we, as a nation led by you, could take to promote a decline in gun violence. We could minimize the risks having guns causes. In this article by CNN, it states that the FBI actually set a new record for the number of gun background checks for one month. We could make these checks more intensive and wider spread than they currently are. These are vital to ensuring that the people who are getting guns are trustworthy and mentally fit.

    The fact stands that the right to own guns in the United States of America is a Constitutional Right, Mr./Mrs. President. This should never be changed. It could possibly be modified to make it harder for guns to get in the hands of bad people, and I think that is a fantastic idea, but our right to rebellion and defense should never be revoked. I hope you can lead us well. 

Good Luck,

      Andrew Himebaugh

Works Cited

"Gun Control – Just Facts." Gun Control – Just Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

Simon, Mallory, and Ray Sanchez. "U.S. Gun Violence: The Story in Graphics." CNN. Cable News Network, 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.